Windows vs. Linux vs. OS X

CIO Magazine ^ | 11/28/2006 | By Meridith Levinson

[Swordmaker]

A celebrity CIO reviews the desktop operating system contenders in search of the next-generation office computer

Introduction

John Halamka has a penchant for experiments with new technologies. In 2004, the now 44-year-old CIO of the Harvard Medical School and CareGroup, which runs the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, who is also a practicing emergency room physician, was one of the first people to have an RFID chip containing a link to his medical records implanted in his body (it's near his right triceps.) Next April, he and Harvard geneticist George Church will become the first humans to have their DNA sequenced and their full genetic makeup posted on the Web.

But as a health-care administrator, he's not solely interested in testing the cutting-edge, Orwellian technologies that make headlines. The PCs inside the hospital have to work too. So when Halamka's laptop running Windows XP interrupted several presentations with inopportune antivirus and application updates, he decided his next big initiative would be to determine which desktop operating system—Windows XP, Apple's OS X or Linux—is the most secure, most reliable and easiest to use in a corporate environment.

For three months, Halamka ditched his Windows laptop. He replaced it first with a MacBook running OS X. Then he spent a month using a Lenovo ThinkPad X41 running a dual-boot configuration of Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation and Red Hat Fedora Core. Finally, he took up a Dell D420 subnotebook running Microsoft's Windows XP. After evaluating all three to determine which worked best for him, he plans to begin testing his preferred setup with users, most of whose desktops currently run Windows.

Halamka judged the three operating systems according to a variety of criteria including their performance, user interfaces and enterprise management capabilities, such as the ability to configure applications, easily organize file systems, and establish granular security control. We followed Halamka's progress, and now we have his conclusions. We've also ask three other experts to take a look at Halamka's findings and add their own insights.

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This is an excerpt, read more at Window vs. Linux vs. OS X

[N3WBI3]

I have always said OSX is the best desktop out there

[Golden Eagle]

I have always said OSX is the best desktop out there

Sure you have LOL.

[Uri’el-2012]

H9000>Vista is obsolete too.

you may think so but it is the latest and greatest out of redmond.

97 posted on 11/30/2006 10:12:44 AM MST by Echo Talon

Yes at best it will be NT 5.5

as win2k is NT 5 and XP is NT 5.2

[N3WBI3]

Find an instance when I said Linux was a better desktop than OSX

Put up or shut up...

[Golden Eagle]

I have always said OSX is the best desktop out there

Is what you said LOL. Nevermind your thousands of open source ping list posts, you suddenly like Apple's closed source GUI huh. Great then, closed source produces superior products, glad you are finally admitting it.

[N3WBI3]

OSX runs on BSD *opensource* and I have always maintained while I like OSS software closed source products can be far better or worse depending on the team.

OSX is a far better desktop than Linux, windows can be a better desktop. OSX is about the same as Linux in terms of server and both kick the crap out of windows..

[Golden Eagle]

I have always maintained while I like OSS software closed source products can be far better

LOL some more!

[N3WBI3]

Find a post where I said otherwise..

[N3WBI3]

BTW I have had posted my reasons for using OSS for quite some time:

"I am a firm believer that closed and opensoruce software live and work well together and I have deployed many a systems that proves that. I personally like OSS better because I like to play and I cant do that with many of the closed source projects out there."

Nowhere have I ever said OSS is always better..

...

From the Golden Eagle Dictionary

LOL: "I have no answer to what you just said so Ill just laugh as if that means Im right, why should I have to back up my claims I post links to google searches that prove nothing all the time.."

[bigdcaldavis]

I'm using Xandros Linux right now. Call me crazy, but I actually like Xandros better than even Ubuntu. And fortunately, Xandros abandoned the product activation feature with the new SP1 update for Xandros 4.

[Echo Talon]

I don't like Ubuntu AT ALL.... I like MEPIS(KDE Ubuntu derivative better)
I also don't like Mandriva and like PCLinuxOS a Mandriva derivative.

[bigdcaldavis]

I'm not too crazy about MEPIS...although I do like the fact that MEPIS comes with Java pre-installed (at least my copy of SimplyMEPIS 3.4 did).

I have yet to try Mandriva.

It seems that Linux XP has gained ground lately.

I mainly use Xandros and Linspire/Freespire...although on my laptop, I prefer Xandros (currently downloading Xandros 4 Home Edition Premium). On the desktop, I mainly use Linspire 4.5. If Linspire uses the newest version of ALSA in Linspire 6.0, I might upgrade to 6.0 when it comes out (the newest version of ALSA works with Riptide soundcards, and I have a Riptide HCF modem...with Riptide HCF modems, you have to install the Riptide drivers or the modem will not work).

[Echo Talon]

yea, if you like the "easy" linux distros to me its MEPIS, PCLinuxOS and Freespire... I never tried Xandros so.. i can't compare that one...